to be adorned is one!

Photograph: Lee Niel Photography

It's my birthday today, which also means it's one year since my To Be Adorned shop went live! Happy birthday to us.

And what a year of milestones and firsts – it's been a whirl of non-stop crochet, vintage lace snipping, precarious hot gluing, craft shopping, Instagramming, sewing machine wrangling, Etsy meet-ups, wedding events, 'I've made/sold a thing' happy dances, post office runs and impromptu photoshoots.

And (full disclosure) along the way there have been tears, very little sleep and a LOT of hard graft. Trying to balance full time work, growing something new and all of life's other commitments has been a whole new kinda challenge. Any and all tips welcome. I have no idea how people do these sorts of things AND raise a family, too. If this is you, you're basically a superhero.

But, having a creative thing that's all my own gives me so much joy, and I've met some amazing people along the way.  The real highlights for me have been meeting brides-to-be, dreaming up new designs and working on special custom headdress and wedding garter orders.

I wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who's been cheering me on this year (Mr P has been a positive saint), placing orders, sharing pics and saying hello at events - you're the actual best. That's the kinda stuff that keeps me going and helps me quiet those niggling, doubting voices that I think all makers have.

So, if you've been wondered why the blog's been so quiet for a while, it's because I've been hustling elsewhere! I'm planning to start sharing more of what I've been up to in this lovely space again, and in the mean time you can find me 'grammin like a mad thing at @tobeadorned and sharing on Facebook, too - I'd love to see a few more familiar faces cropping up!

To celebrate this exciting first birthday, and also by way of a thank you, I'm throwing a discount party! If you wanna join the To Be Adorned fun and help me celebrate, you can get 10% off absolutely everything in the shop (it's not just wedding stuff) this week with the code BDAYLOVE

Photograph: Viktoria Kuti

Photograph: Jacky Badenhorst photography